"Perhaps
one of the most telling pieces of self-disclosure or image construction is the
profile photo, the single default photo by which Facebook users choose to
identify themselves within the entire network" (p. 1828). The goal of
this research study was to add to the literature of the relatively new phenomenon
of the profile picture. Noelle Hum and
her research partners wanted to learn what types of images Facebook members are
using for their profile pictures and how the content of the pictures differs by
gender (p. 1828).
These six researchers created a random pool of 35 Facebook
users culled from their own Facebook friends.
Facebook friends were randomly chosen to receive an invite to participate,
and from those who accepted, another random final pool was drawn. The researchers then coded their pool of
Facebook users’ profile pictures using six categories: “sex, quantity of
profile photos in the participant’s profile picture album, level of physical
activity, candidness, level of appropriateness, and the number of subjects”
(1831). The researchers acknowledge that a possible flaw in their study of the
profile pictures was the requirement of informed consent because the people in
their pool could have changed their profile pictures in response to entering
the study.
Their findings defined as many further research areas as they
did conclusions. Their findings indicated that college students were aware of “the
importance of constructing … an identity” (1832) via Facebook. This led to
their second finding: that the vast majority of the photos were appropriate,
refuting many who say students do not make correct judgments about their
profile pictures. Finally, they found little difference between the genders’
choices of profile pictures, which might indicate different social norms for
online versus face-to-face interactions.
Two of their recommendations for future research align with
my project ideas. First is the suggestion to delve deeper into their hypothesis
that different social norms exist between online and face-to-face interactions;
second is their recommendation to study other social networking sites beyond
Facebook. My project combines these two recommendations
while also taking them a step further. My comparison of two different online
spaces will offer a look into how social norms might not just differ between
online and face-to-face. Do they also differ between online sites? My comparison of differing sites is not
specifically what these researchers were envisioning either because I am
comparing the same people on different sites. So my project is offering a new
lens into both of these suggestions.
As a final note, some of the coding categories are
particularly interesting to me: candidness, level of appropriateness, and
number of subjects. I think each of
these can offer an excellent split between academic and social norms. I might be able to write out my hypothesis
using them: I hypothesize that academic pictures are posed, overtly
appropriate, and have a singular subject, while social photos are candid,
edgier, and often include many subjects.
I also am pondering how these codes can fit with Williamson’s theory of
design narratives (n.d.) – how profile pictures are design narratives moving
from who (number of subjects) to what (appropriateness) to how (candidness). Profile pictures seem to be strong candidates
for visual design theory versus visual argument (Blair, 2004; Kenney, 2004).
References
Blair, J.A. (2004). Building Visual Communication Theory by Borrowing from Rhetoric. In C. Handa (Ed.), Visual Rhetoric in a Digital World: A Critical Sourcebook (321-343). Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's.
Kenney, K. (2004). Building Visual Communication Theory by Borrowing from Rhetoric. In C. Handa (Ed.), Visual Rhetoric in a Digital World: A Critical Sourcebook (344-363). Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's.
Williamson, J. Introduction. Visual Design Narratives: Participated Meaning and the Interior User in the Era of Convergence.
I might have missed it in an older post but what other site/online community do you plan to use? Also how will you interact with said site? From the outside in or inside out?
ReplyDeleteI am going to compare Facebook pics with profile pics on an academic site. I am just an observer of the pics -- looking into whether students approach these pics differently and how.
ReplyDelete